


The Radicalization of Maka Albarn

by Small_Nerd



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Alternate Title: Maka Stops Being A Centrist, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Characters will be added as they appear - Freeform, Gen, Leftist Politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25640767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Nerd/pseuds/Small_Nerd
Summary: Medusa takes an interest in Maka and decides to win her over to the side of destroying the world. Maka being Maka, this does not go entirely according to plan.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to give a shout-out to my partner in writing this story, Alph. I can't thank you enough for helping me to actually turn this from an idea to actual words on a screen. There aren't enough stories out there with proper leftist politics in them, in my opinion, and hopefully this one goes some way towards fixing that.

Maka returned to consciousness gradually, the dull ache in her bones telling her exactly where she was. The medical section of DWMA had claimed her once again for their dark designs. As Maka shifted herself into a sitting position, the doctor on duty walked over to her bed, worry lines softening into a relieved expression.

“Thank goodness you woke up, I was starting to think you’d slipped into a coma,” the doctor said. “I don’t know what Lord Death is thinking, letting children get into situations where they come out in as bad a shape as you were.”

Maka wanted to say something in defense of her going out to fight the good fight on a regular basis, but it was hard for her to honestly say she completely trusted Lord Death’s decision-making process. Anyone who thought Maka’s father made for a good partner couldn’t be all there. And so Maka opted to ignore the doctor’s comments about Lord Death in favor of what really mattered to her.

“How long will I be here this time?” she asked.

“About a week, maybe two,” the doctor said. “You’ve got bruises and fractures everywhere, it’s a miracle you got yourself to sit up just now. I can’t let you do _anything_ harder than that.”

Maka could feel the bottom drop out of her stomach as the implications of that statement dawned on her. She was as patient as the next person, but two weeks with nothing to do but lie in a hospital bed? That would drive anyone to madness.

Something of Maka’s feelings must have shown on her face, because the doctor twitched in the manner of someone suddenly remembering where they’d left their keys.

“Oh, yes. I thought you might get bored, so I took some books I had lying around and put them on the nightstand next to your bed. I remember enjoying them when I was your age, but even if they’re not to your taste, I’m sure reading them would be an improvement over counting the ceiling tiles.”

“Thanks,” Maka told the doctor. “I’m sure they’ll be interesting.”

The doctor nodded, smiling, and said, “Well, I have some other patients to take care of now, so I need to go, but I’ll be back in a bit to check up on you. Let me know what you think of my books!”

With that, the doctor turned and left, and Maka reached over to grab the book on top of the pile she’d been given.

_What Do Witches Want?_ read the cover.

_Huh_ , though Maka. _Doctor Medusa has some unusual tastes. This should be interesting._

And so she opened the book and began to read.

* * *

Elsewhere, Doctor Medusa, better known (and feared) as the witch Medusa Gorgon, very carefully did not allow a smirk to grow on her face as a snake hidden in Albarn’s room reported on what she was doing. Seeing the girl in action had been the luckiest break Medusa had ever gotten. She was better than average as a weapon meister, not _too_ special though still head and shoulders above the general mass, but the real prize was Albarn’s connections. The daughter of Death’s personal weapon would be a valuable asset, and Crona even seemed to like the girl. Medusa certainly had control over her kishin-in-the-making, but a little extra leverage over her pawns never hurt. Subverting Maka Albarn was a high priority, and after some careful observation of her target, Medusa knew just how to do it.

The girl clearly had no respect for most of the authority figures in her life, so she was probably in the market for one she _could_ respect, and who better to fill that void than the understanding Doctor Medusa, who knew so well what it was like to learn her idols had feet of clay and go in search of an alternative? Medusa remembered very well how she had come to walk her path, it would be easy enough to plant the right doubts in Albarn’s head and give her the right answers. Soon, very soon, Medusa Gorgon would be ready to burn the world down, and Maka Albarn would be right by her side pouring the gasoline.


	2. Chapter 2

It had taken far longer than Maka would have liked, but she was finally free of the infirmary’s confines. At least she had had the books Dr. Medusa had lent her, along with actually speaking with the good doctor every so often. Those conversations had been… something.

“ _How did you come across all these books?” Maka asked._

_Dr. Medusa gripped her arm with one hand, her eye downcast, and said, “Can you keep a secret?”_

_At Maka’s nod, she continued._

“ _I used to know some witches.”_

“ _It was years ago, we don’t stay in touch anymore,” the doctor got out before Maka could say anything. “But it was long enough that I got to know them pretty well, and I got a pretty good idea of what their culture’s like. I actually wrote a couple of those books back when I was young enough to have the energy for that kind of thing. I… don’t agree with everything they say nowadays, but it’s still close enough. I keep them around for old time’s sake, I suppose.”_

“ _That doesn’t explain the books you_ didn’t _write,” Maka couldn’t help but point out._

_Dr. Medusa sighed and said, “That’s true. I don’t remember how I ended up reading those other ones, honestly. It was a long time ago. All I remember is that I thought they had a point and I wanted to look for alternatives to… all of this,” she said with a vague gesture towards the world._

“ _I think I’m starting to know the feeling,” Maka said. “It’s- I don’t- can’t- Something’s wrong with how the world works, and it feels like nobody can_ see _it.”_

_Dr. Medusa hummed sympathetically._

“ _I couldn’t have put it better myself,” she said. “But now you_ do _see it, so you’ve got to make a decision.”_

_Suddenly, the woman’s expression took on a hardness Maka hadn’t seen in it before._

“ _What are you going to do about it, Maka Albarn?”_

Maka was still trying to figure out an answer to that question.

* * *

Elsewhere, Medusa was considering the progress of her plan. Albarn seemed to be drawing the right conclusions, but she needed to be sure the girl would _commit_. Well, if Medusa had the taken the girl’s measure right, and she always took her targets’ measures right, Albarn was the type who cared more about the people she knew than any sort of abstract principles, so she would have to give the kid someone to care about, someone who could take the role of Death’s innocent victim. Hmm…

“Crona, I have a new task for you…”


	3. Chapter 3

As much as Maka would have liked to spend more time thinking over the ideas she’d been introduced to by Dr. Medusa, her recovery had finished, and that meant she was back on the roster of DWMA’s active weapon meisters to be sent out into the field once more. Happy though she was to work with Soul again, leaving a line of thought half-finished didn’t sit well with Maka. Well, maybe she could talk about those things with him on the way to their next target.

“Hey, Maka,” Soul greeted her once the pair had met up, standing straight for a moment before returning to his habitual slouch. “Thank Death you’re better, they’ve been putting me with the losers in the NOT class. It’s been _hell_.”

Maka grinned at her partner’s words. No surprise Soul wouldn’t enjoy spending all his time in classes he hadn’t needed in ages, but it was still nice to get a reminder that he really did like working with her. That didn’t mean she couldn’t rib him a little, though.

“Sure, sure,” she said with a snort. “We both know you were just drooling over all the girls in that class, you don’t need to pretend with me. You’re an absolute horndog and you know it.”

“Nah,” Soul said, shaking his head. “Cool guys don’t go poking their noses where they don’t belong. ‘Sides, one of the girls in our class said she’d let me use her computer to look for that kinda stuff on the Web if I paid her.”

Maka raised an eyebrow at that and asked, “Who said that and how are you paying her?”

“Her name’s, uh, Kim something,” Soul said. “She’s got pink hair, and she’s a meister with… huh, I don’t think I heard what her partner turns into. They both wear sailor suits for some reason, you’d probably be real good friends with ‘em, got the same lack of fashion sense- Ow!”

He had been interrupted by a Maka Chop to the head. Rubbing the sore spot, Soul decided to get to the second part of her question.

“Anyway, I just stole your dad’s wallet and gave it to Kim. He had a ton of money in there. She said I didn’t have to pay her again for a whole year, can you believe it?”

Maka could indeed believe it. Her father drew a truly absurd stipend from his position as Death Scythe, and most places in Death City besides the clubs wouldn’t take his money. The clubs had too little respect for him at this point to feel about bad milking him for all they could get.

“Anyway, what’s our mission this time?” Maka asked. She’d been too preoccupied with other thoughts to remember what they were supposed to be doing.

Soul took a moment to think before saying, “We’re going to Arizona. Guy named Marshall Earp’s been killing people for kicks in a town called Tombstone, we’re putting a stop to that.”

Maka nodded and said, “All right, let’s get going.”

There was more Maka wanted to say as she and Soul traveled south. _Do you think_ _DWMA_ _really needs to be_ _fighting witches all the time?_ _Why do you think Lord Death doesn’t do anything about whatever keeps making people become targets for us?_ _What’s the point of us putting this one man down when_ _we could try and prevent a thousand people from getting desperate enough to start committing crimes?_ Those questions and a hundred others all jostled each other in Maka’s chest, each one keeping all the others from finding expression like crabs in a bucket.

She needed to talk with someone about the questions circling through her being, but… if the thought of bringing them up with Soul was twisting her stomach up like this, could she talk to anyone about them? Who could Maka talk to that wouldn’t keep her words trapped behind her tongue?

The mission came and went without much fanfare. Marshall Earp was ultimately a pretty normal person outside of his ability to kill large numbers of people and sleep soundly at night. Maka and Soul had already defeated ninety-nine human criminals before him, a hundredth one wasn’t anything special. Find the target, throw Soul’s scythe form at him, take his soul, and leave. There wasn’t much else to it. Unfortunately, Maka was still having trouble thinking of someone to talk to about the puzzles Dr. Medusa had given her.

_All right_ , she thought to herself on the way back to her and Soul’s place.  _Who’s someone I feel comfortable talking to about how DWMA could be organized better and maybe make peace with the witches? Someone I know, someone I can talk to, someone who’s open to new ideas about witches…_

Maka opened the door to her apartment and shouted, “Blair! I need to talk to you!”

Blair, despite being in her human-shaped form, still managed to flow towards the door frame with all the fluidity of her inborn cat shape.

“ _Myowww_ … What is it, Maka?” she asked, still blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

“Not here,” Maka said. “This needs to be private.”

After a few minutes and no small amount of grumbling from Blair, the two had come to a reasonably secluded spot.

“Okay, what did you wanna talk about?” Blair said once they had stopped.

Maka stiffened and took a long moment to put her words together.

“I… I think something’s really wrong with DWMA and how we spend so much time hunting down witches just because Lord Death says we need to do it and there’s so many criminals we hunt even though Lord Death has so much power he could definitely keep people from feeling like crime was their only option, and- and- things could just be so much better but it feels like nobody wants to even _try_ to make things better, like they’ve all just given up on the idea that things could be better, and I just don’t know what to do. There’s so much that just doesn’t seem right about the world anymore and _how am I supposed to deal with it?_ ”

Blair blinked once, twice, and finally said with a smile, “I have no idea!”

Once she had recovered from the Maka Chop, Blair said, “I don’t know what you wanted me to tell you, I’m a  _cat_ . A lot of human stuff doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve never gotten why you let yourselves be bossed around by people you don’t want to mate- Ow, not again! Look, Maka, all I can say is that if you don’t like how things are, you’ve gotta put up with them or change them. Well, that and you might want to make friends with a witch and complain to her. Maybe the one here at this school, the girl with the pink hair and sailor suit?”

“Why do you think there’s a witch here and why that girl?” Maka asked

It was amazing how much meaning Blair could put into a single raised eyebrow. Maka was able to see in that expression a very self-congratulatory paragraph about how Blair was familiar enough with witches and how they hid themselves from prying eyes that she could easily pick out a younger witch trying to pretend she was a normal human. Well, Blair and common sense weren’t exactly on speaking terms anyway, it might just be true that someone at DWMA was a witch in disguise.  Still, though. Hiding in an organization that wanted you dead? Maka couldn’t imagine what it took to do that.

“All right,” Maka conceded. “I’ll go see if I can find her, then. What did you say her name was?”

Blair shrugged. “I don’t remember, I wasn’t all that interested once she said I had to pay her to keep looking at her.”

That detail added to what Blair had already said was starting to add up to an interesting sum in Maka’s head. Someone at DWMA might be a witch, and that girl was someone Maka had more than one reason to talk to.

“Don’t worry about it,” Maka said. “I have a feeling I can get her to talk with me.”

Elsewhere, Kim Diehl shuddered.


End file.
